Jobs bill vote earns enmity for new GOP senator

POLITICS

Glen Johnson, Associated Press

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4:00 am PST, Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Photo: Harry Hamburg, AP

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Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., talks to reporters after he voted for cloture on the Jobs Bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. A bipartisan jobs bill cleared a GOP filibuster with critical momentum provided by the Senate's newest Republican. less

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., talks to reporters after he voted for cloture on the Jobs Bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. A bipartisan jobs bill cleared a GOP filibuster with critical ... more

Photo: Harry Hamburg, AP

Jobs bill vote earns enmity for new GOP senator

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A month after being crowned the darling of national conservatives, Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts is being branded "Benedict Brown" for siding with Democrats in favor of a jobs bill endorsed by the Obama administration.

The bill faces a final Senate vote today.

Like the four other GOP senators who joined him, the man who won the late Democrat Edward Kennedy's seat says it's about jobs, not party politics. And that may be good politics, too.

But Brown was the big target on conservative Web sites, talk shows and the Facebook page his campaign has promoted as an example of his new-media savvy.

"We campaigned for you. We donated to your campaign. And you turned on us like every other RINO," said one writer, using the initials for "Republican-In-Name-Only."

The conservative-tilting Drudge Report colored a photo of Brown on its home page in scarlet. The new senator responded by calling into a Boston radio station.

"I've taken three votes," Brown said. "And to say I've sold out any particular party or interest group, I think, is certainly unfair."

The senator said that by the time he seeks re-election in two years, he will have taken thousands of votes.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wasn't particularly perturbed about Brown's vote, saying his election last month has "made a huge, positive difference for us and for the whole legislative agenda."

Political observers said each of the five Republican senators had solid reasons locally for voting as they did, to cut off a potential Republican filibuster on the bill.

The measure featured four provisions that enjoyed sweeping bipartisan support, including a measure exempting businesses hiring the unemployed from Social Security payroll taxes through December, and giving them a $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year.

It would also renew highway programs through December and deposit $20 billion in the highway trust fund.